Teams

The 18 UCI WorldTeams were automatically invited to participate in the Tour. In addition, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the race organiser, invited four wildcard team, Bora–Argon 18, Cofidis, Direct Énergie and Fortuneo–Vital Concept. Three of the teams (Cofidis, Direct Énergie and Fortuneo–Vital Concept) are French while Bora–Argon 18 is German. The 2016 Tour de France was the third consecutive Tour de France that Bora–Argon 18 and Fortuneo–Vital Concept had been invited to compete as a wildcard. After the wildcard announcement, Bora–Argon 18's team manager, Ralph Denk, said, "These are great news today! [sic], To be invited for the third time in a row to the world's biggest cycling event is a big honour, and I want to thank the ASO for their trust in us."[2]

Notes

↑ The race numbers were handed out based on the team leader's result in the 2015 Tour de France. The better the team leader did in the 2015 Tour, the lower the race numbers handed to his team. For example, Team Sky were given numbers 1 to 9 due to Chris Froome winning the 2015 Tour.[12]